Mets vs. Marlins Preview, Lineups, And Broadcast Info: Game #132 — R.A. Dickey vs. Nathan Eovaldi

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Marlins
Date: Friday, August 31, 2012 • 7:10 p.m
Location: Marlins Park • Miami, FL
Starters: RHP R.A. Dickey (16-4, 2.76) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-9, 4.54)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #132 • Road Game #67

Lineup

Ruben Tejada – SS
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Ike Davis – 1B
Lucas Duda – LF
Mike Baxter – RF
Andres Torres – CF
Josh Thole – C
R.A. Dickey – RHP

METS AT A GLANCE: New York had their four-game winning streak snapped yesterday with a 3-2 loss at Philadelphia...The Mets are 4-6 in their last 10 games...New York is 15-30 (11-15 on the road) since the All-Star break...The Mets are 11-16 this month...The Mets are 16-26 in the first game of a series, including 8-13 on the road.

ON THE ROAD: The Mets are 2-1 on their current nine-game road trip, the club’s second-longest of the season...The Mets are 31-35 on the road this year after going 43-38 away from Citi Field in 2011...David Wright is second in the National League with a .340 road batting average.

SERIES: New York has won two straight series after winning two of three from Houston and two of three from the Phillies...The last time the team won consecutive series was June 28-July 5, when the Mets took three of four from the Dodgers and two of three from the Phillies...The last time New York won three straight series was August 29- September 7, 2011.

ONE-RUN GAMES: New York fell to 17-17 in one-run decisions, including 7-9 away from Citi Field.

WRIGHT RANKINGS: David Wright is third in the majors with a .408 on-base percentage and is eighth with a .317 batting average...Wright is tied for eighth in the National League with 77 runs scored...He is tied for seventh in the NL with 55 extra-base hits...Wright is eighth in the NL with a .322 batting average with runners in scoring position.

DOUBLES: David Wright collected his 37th double of the year...He is tied for third in the majors in doubles...Including tonight, 31 games remain on the Mets schedule...Wright’s career-high is 42 doubles, which he’s done three times (2005, 2007 and 2008)...Bernard Gilkey holds the franchise record with 44 doubles in 1996.

MIKE BAXTER: Hit his first career leadoff home run yesterday at Philadelphia...After not hitting a home run all season, Baxter has two home runs in his last three games.

LEADING OFF: Baxter’s blast was the third leadoff home run of the year for the Mets...Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a leadoff home run on June 14 at Tampa Bay and Ruben Tejada lead off the game on August 1 with a home run at San Francisco...The Mets had one leadoff home run in 2011.

HOME RUNS: The Mets have hit at least one home run in six straight games dating back to August 24...During that span, New York has connected on nine home runs during that span and is 4-2 during that span...This stretch is the second-longest this season...The Mets hit a home run in eight consecutive games from May 28-June 5.

RISP: The Mets went 0-2 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are 8-for-their-last-57 (.140) with RISP...The Mets are hitting .170 (32-188) with runners in scoring position since August 1...The Mets are hitting .250 with RISP on the season, ranking 19th in the majors...The Mets are hitting .265 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the third-highest average in the majors.

TWO-OUTS: The Mets have scored 240 two-out runs this year, which is the fifth-most in the majors...New York is hitting .260 with two outs, the fifth-highest average in the majors...New York’s pitching staff has permitted 221 runs with two outs, the 11th-most in the majors.

METS STARTERS: Mets starters rank eighth in the majors with a 3.82 ERA...The starters have posted a 2.77 ERA (24 earned runs/78.0 innings) over their last 12 games and over their last 17 contests they have a 3.02 ERA (37 earned runs/110.1 innings).

R.A. DICKEY: Is tied for second in the majors with 16 wins, one behind Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto...Dickey is sixth in the majors and third in the National League with 183 strikeouts...He ranks fourth in the NL with a 2.76 ERA.

WINNING WAYS: R.A. Dickey is one of the six pitchers who’ve made 20 or more starts this season and have not lost consecutive decisions this year...The others are Clay Buchholz, Tim Hudson, Kyle Lohse, David Price and Chris Sale...Also, Dickey is the first Mets pitcher to win 16 games since Johan Santana also won 16 in 2008…The last Mets pitcher to win more than 16 games in a single season was Al Leiter, who had 17 victories in 1998.

STRONG STARTS: Dickey went 7.0 innings and allowed one run in his last start on August 25 vs. Houston...It was the 14th time he has gone at least that deep into a game and allowed one or fewer runs…That total is the most in the National League and two behind Seattle’s Felix Hernandez for the major league lead…Bob Gibson’s 24 such starts in 1968 for St. Louis is the most in major league history since 1918…Dwight Gooden holds the franchise record with 18 such starts in 1985…Dickey’s total is tied for the fifth most in club history and only Gooden and Tom Seaver had higher single-season totals.

COMPLETE GAMES: R.A. Dickey leads the National League with four complete games...His four complete games are tied for the most in a single season by a Mets pitcher since 1993, when Dwight Gooden tossed seven...Johan Santana (2010), Pedro Martinez (2005), Al Leiter (1998) and Bret Saberhagen (1994) also finished with four.

BULLPEN: The Mets bullpen tossed 2.0 scoreless innings yesterday ...The pen has not allowed a run in its last six games, spanning 15.1 innings...They have allowed six hits, issued four walks and notched 12 strikeouts during that stretch.

FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE ALL-STARS: Right-handed pitcher Adam Kolarek was named to the Florida State League Post-Season All-Star Team...Ryan Ellis was named the Florida State League Manager of the Year...Kolarek, the Mets’ 11th-round pick in 2010, went 1-3 with 17 saves and a 2.45 ERA (15 earned runs/55.0 innings) with 67 strikeouts in 42 games for St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League.

BINGHAMTON AGREEMENT: The Binghamton Mets and New York Mets announced a four-year extension of their Player Development Contract, securing the BMets as New York’s Double-A affiliate through the 2016 season...The Binghamton Mets have been affiliated with New York for the past 21 seasons.

LAST START: Earned his 16th win in the Mets’ 3-1 victory vs. Houston on August 25 at Citi Field…Pitched 7.0 innings and allowed one run, earned, and five hits...Walked one and struck out two...Dickey’s 16 wins are the most by a Mets pitcher since Johan Santana won 16 in 2008...The last Mets pitcher to win more than 16 games in a season was Al Leiter, who won 17 in 1998...Threw 86 pitches, 59 strikes, the fewest amount of pitches he has thrown in a start of 7.0 innings or more this season...Dickey now has a career-high 183 strikeouts, surpassing last year’s total of 134 in his July 24 start vs. Washington.

STRONG STARTS: Dickey went 7.0 innings and allowed one run in his last start vs. Houston, the 14th time this season he has gone that deep into a game while allowing one earned run or less...The total is the most in the National League and two behind Felix Hernandez (Sea) for the major league lead with 16...Dickey’s total is tied for fifth most in club history and only Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver had higher single-season totals...Gooden holds the franchise record with 18 such starts in 1985...Bob Gibson (Stl) had 24 such starts in 1968, the most in the majors since 1918.

HOME RUNS: Has surrendered five home runs in his last four starts...In his previous 18 starts, Dickey had allowed five home runs.

RANKS: Dickey ranks in the top five in all three NL triple crown categories (W, ERA, K)...After his start on August 9 vs. Miami, he became the first pitcher in the NL to reach 15 wins this season...He is tied for second in the major leagues in wins with 16...Has struck out 183 in 182.1 innings this season, good for sixth in the majors and third in the NL...Is fourth in the NL with a 2.76 ERA...Johnny Cueto (Cin) leads the NL with a 2.48 ERA...Dickey is tied for first in the NL with a 1.02 WHIP with Madison Bumgarner (SF), Matt Cain (SF), and Clayton Kershaw (LaD)...Also has six doubledigit strikeout games this season, second to Yu Darvish (Tex) who has eight...Is tied for second in the NL with 17 starts of pitching at least 7.0 innings...Clayton Kershaw (LaD) and Johnny Cueto (Cin) lead the NL with 18 such starts...Felix Hernandez (Sea) lead the majors with 20 starts of at least 7.0 innings.

MORE RANKS: Has recorded 20 quality starts, tied for third in the majors...His K/BB ratio of 4.46 ranks fifth in both the majors and NL...Has limited opposing right-handed batters to a .208 (75-360) batting average this season, good for seventh in the majors and fourth in the NL...Dickey has 12 starts in which he has struck out eight or more this season, tied for second in the majors trailing only Max Scherzer (Det), who has 15 such starts.

COMPLETE GAMES: Tossed his National League-best fourth complete game of the season on August 9 vs. Miami…Dickey’s four complete games are tied for the most in a single season by a Mets pitcher since 1993, when Dwight Gooden tossed seven…Johan Santana (2010), Pedro Martinez (2005), Al Leiter (1998), Bret Saberhagen (1994) also finished with four.

DOUBLE-DIGIT STRIKEOUTS: Dickey has six double-digit strikeout games this year, the most by a Mets pitcher since David Cone threw eight in 1992...He had just one such start prior to this season...Has recorded back-to-back double-digit strikeout games twice this season.

CAREER-HIGH STRIKEOUTS: Dickey recorded 12 and 13 strikeouts in back-to-back starts at Tampa Bay on June 13 and again vs. Baltimore on June 18, respectively, setting a new career-high each time...He first set his career-high striking out 11 at Pittsburgh on May 22.

WINNING STREAK SNAPPED: Dickey’s loss in his start vs. Washington on July 24 snapped a streak of 11 consecutive winning decisions dating to April 25 vs. Miami...The 11-game win streak was the best of his career and the third longest in Mets history...Dickey’s streak spanned 16 starts, also tied for the third longest streak of consecutive starts without a loss in Mets history...This was the first home loss for Dickey of the season and his first since falling to Washington on September 12, 2011, 3-2.

ONE-HIT WONDER: On June 18 vs. BAL, Dickey became the 10th pitcher since 1900 to record consecutive one-hitters...Became the first pitcher in modern baseball history (since 1900) to register back-to-back complete game one-hitters with 10 strikeouts or more in both starts.

LAST WIN VS. MIAMI: Won, 6-1, at Citi Field on August 9...Pitched 9.0 innings and allowed one run, earned, five hits, and no walks...Struck out 10...This was Dickey’s sixth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.

LAST LOSS VS. MIAMI: Lost, 10-3, at Sun Life Stadium on June 28, 2010...Pitched 5.0 innings and allowed five runs, earned, and five hits...Walked one and struck out three.

CAREER VS. MIAMI: In 12 career games, 10 starts, Dickey is 8-2 with a 3.18 ERA (24 earned runs/68.0 innings pitched) vs. the Marlins...Dickey’s eight wins vs. the Marlins are his most against any club.

KEY MATCHUPS:

• Carlos Lee - .360 (9-25, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 4 K)
• Jose Reyes - .125 (2-16, 3 K)
• Greg Dobbs - .143 (2-14, 3B, 5 K)